This chapter describes the design process. There is a sequence of analysis, synthesis, appraisal, and decision at increasingly detailed levels of the design process. Analysis involves the exploration of relationships, looking for patterns in the information available and the classification of objectives. It is the ordering and structuring of the problem. Synthesis, in contrast, is the generation of solutions. Appraisal involves the critical evaluation of suggested solutions against the objectives identified in the analysis phase. Most of the maps of the design process resemble more closely the non-designer, scientific approach than that of the architects. Primary generators are always found in the singular; it is the reconciling and resolving of two or more such ideas that characterize design protocols.
